“LA MULA”
[THE MULE]
Suite for Symphony Orchestra of the Original Soundtrack ot the film “La Mula”
(Transcription for Wind Band)
“The Mule” is a Spanish movie based on the novel by Juan Eslava Galán, narrating a story about the Spanish Civil War. It was premiered on the 16th edition...
“LA MULA”
[THE MULE]
Suite for Symphony Orchestra of the Original Soundtrack ot the film “La Mula”
(Transcription for Wind Band)
“The Mule” is a Spanish movie based on the novel by Juan Eslava Galán, narrating a story about the Spanish Civil War. It was premiered on the 16th edition of the “Malaga Festival of Spanish Film” in 2013, in which Mario Casas, its lead actor, was awarded the ‘Biznaga de Plata’ for best actor.
The movie submerges us in the trenches of the Civil War during the last months of the conflict. It narrates the tales and adventures of Juan Castro, a soldier that fights on the Nationalist side, on the front near Peñarroya (Córdoba).
One afternoon, Juan finds a lost mule in the middle of the battlefield and decides to hide it, with the intention of keeping it once the war is over. He names it Valentina. His childhood friend, el Chato, will become his accomplice. This event will become the starting point of an exciting adventure, a delirious journey that would outline, with a humorous tone, the unfair paradoxes that drive the war.
Through the character of Juan Castro, who is more worried about his love life than the progress of the enemy, we are offered with a unique take into the civil war. Above all the other things, this movie is a denunciation of war (in which the same people are often the ones who suffer the most) and presents evidence of the trickery and fraud of those in power. Amidst the clamor of battle and solemn speeches, there is room for humor, sex, love and, because it couldn’t be any other way, camaraderie and solidarity amongst soldiers.
Based on a true story.
Oscar Navarro
